Praxis Program Pinning Ceremony

Monday, May 8, 2017

By Francia Peterson

On April 25, 2017 the Praxis Program pinned its newest group of GEM Fellows, who now number 43, in four cohorts since 2013. Nearly 60 faculty and administrators, across many schools and disciplines, have participated in the program. They have engaged in a unique opportunity for learning and reflection to deepen their understanding of the meaning of Seton Hall’s mission, as well as to enhance their life and work here.

The Praxis Program of the Advanced Seminar on Mission is an advanced faculty development program designed to foster personal, professional, organizational and institutional development for faculty and administrators who are graduates of two previous mission seminars, the University Seminar on Mission and the Advanced Seminar on Mission. It was designed to answer the participants’ question: how do I apply the learnings of the Advanced Seminar to my disciplines/professions in light of Seton Hall’s mission?

Its purpose is to engage faculty and administrators in a process of peer mentoring and curricular/co-curricular support designed to apply the mission of the University to their respective disciplines and departments, through a method which connects the disciplines to each other, to an integrated understanding of knowledge, and to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. That method is the Generalized Empirical Method (GEM) of Bernard Lonergan.

As one GEM Fellow noted: “Education is a transformative process and GEM is a wonderful method to follow in fostering students to operate on a much higher cognitive, moral, and spiritual level.” Another remarked: “The on-going dialogue in the Praxis community of GEM Fellows is an important one in determining the evolution of the mission and general purpose of a Seton Hall education.”

Based on assessments since 2014, the program conclusions indicate advancements in faculty development at the University: 1) There was a need at Seton Hall for community, and community was formed through this program. Faculty and administrators felt isolated in their silos and were not sure where they fit within the mission or how to express the mission in their work. 2) There was a need to provide a method to analyze the mission and to provide a process and a mechanism to affect faculty, and their teaching, as well as to incorporate the mission into their professional lives. 3) Nearly all participants’ pedagogy was positively affected, resulting in developments in many areas.

The Praxis Program will continue in fall 2017 for its fifth academic year, and will welcome Cohort 5 in spring 2018. Please see the website for further information, click here »

Contact the Center for Vocation and Servant Leadership at csl@shu.edu, or Linda Garofalo at 973-313-6047.